Verdict Reading
by TerryJ
Summary: Something so simple quickly gets out of hand


I don't own anyone or anything, it's really quite sad to not have anything, it gets so cold around here...thankfully Mr. Wolf is a generous person and loans out his characters to poor people such as myself. Thank you Mr. Wolf (actually i lied, I own Jennie, Mr. Wolf does not...though he put her existance out there...damn it!)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
***this exists in the same world as "A Suprise Date" though it is not neccasary to read that first it maybe helpful in helping to set the stage for this one....(comments welcomed)***  
  
"...And I honestly don't know what he is doing still teaching, I mean the other day he screwed up Marbury v. Madison with McCulloch v. Maryland! I mean, come on, who does that? ...Whaaaaat? What is that look for?" Jack McCoy had been smirking wickedly as he listened to his daughter rant about her first semester in law school.  
  
"Nothing, nothing really. It's just...funny how times change."   
  
"Funny how times change? What, funny that a once well known law program is now a joke run by senile old bats?" Jennie still did not see the humor in her story. She was royally put out that people were resting her education, her future, in the hands of such a senile old man and now here was her father, the one adult whom she thought would understand, laughing at her.  
  
"No, not at all," a note of seriousness returned to his voice as he replied to his daughter's evident frustration. "NYU is still a very reputable program, we just hired a new ADA from there as a matter of fact." He took a sip of his milk shake. "No, what is funny to me is that I remember, oh about 30 some-odd years ago, the young Professor Gibbons was the one who all the female law students dreamed about." He chuckled at the look of horror that crossed her face.  
  
"Yuck! That is the worst thing you have told me to date! He is such a dumb old codger. Just... iew. Did you really have Gibbons?"  
  
"1st and 2nd year of Con. Law. It was an entertaining class."  
  
"Wow, see I knew he was old but it really lends new meaning to the word if he's old enough to have been one of YOUR teachers."  
  
"Ooo, that hurts. Don't worry, someday you'll get old too."  
  
"Don't count on it."  
  
He smiled and slurped up the last of his drink. The cold felt good. The city's summer heat had not yet let up even though the calender was into September. He sighed as he bent to pick up his suit jacket and beaten leather satchel that he had the audacity to call a briefcase.   
  
"I have to be getting back, the verdict on the Bradley case is going to be read in a half hour."  
  
"Really? How do you feel about it?"  
  
"I feel confident, we had a few slip ups with warrant issues and pretrial motions, but what case doesn't? I think we still did ok in the end."  
  
"That's good, I hope you're right. I would come and listen but I have class."  
  
"Nah, its better you didn't anyway, verdict reading can be the most anticipatory part of the trial, but it is really the most boring. If you're going to skip class for a show wait for the cross of a defendant or a closing, way more fun."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "You're condoning skipping class? I'll keep that in mind and check the court calender for what's going on the next time I have Gibbons."  
  
"No, I'm not condoning anything. I'm just saying when you're learning something it is sometimes best to observe, not get too book trapped. And as for Gibbons, I had to deal with him, you do too." He looked at her with a stern expression but a smile playing in his eyes.  
  
"I wouldn't mind if he were still the dream boat he apparently used to be." She batted her eyelids and made a dramatic swooning motion over the back of her chair.  
  
He huffed out a breath and shook his head. "Ok, well, I'll call you next week about lunch again?"   
  
"Yup. If I don't hear from you by Sunday night I'll leave a message at your office."  
  
"Good plan."  
  
They smiled and waved goodbye as they began to walk in opposite directions. Jack was happy, he and his daughter had been having weekly lunch dates over the past month and a half and had begun to become very fond of one another. At first it had been awkward as they grappled around the fact that the bond that should be there naturally wasn't present at all. Lately though, it had become much easier, a very natural connection began to grow as he realized how much he enjoyed her company and how easy it was to talk with her. Their conversations had less and less to do with what they had missed and filling in holes, but more and more about what was happening and what was going to happen in each of their lives.   
  
They had even begun to see each other as someone to talk about things with when it seemed there was noone who would understand. She had at first talked very casually about attending school so far from home but then one day in the park she suddenly became very candid with him and almost broke down when she expressed how much angst and worry she was truly feeling. When he tried to comfort her by sharing how he went through the same thing, he realized it was the first instinctive fatherly thing he had done since she was little. It made him feel good to know that she felt comfortable enough with him to turn to him with her troubles. Abbie and Adam had commented that Jennie was good for him, making him less of a workaholic and a grouch. He guessed they were right, he had been drinking less and he had this constant almost contentment feeling that made sleep come much easier in recent weeks.  
  
He glanced at his watch. He shouldn't have stayed that long, it would take him 20 minutes to just get to the courthouse. He quickened his pace, cursing the heat and begrudging his tie and formal court attire. By the time he made it to the courthouse he was sweating profusely and was in a much more ill temper then he had been when he had left the outdoor ice cream shoppe. There were only two people ahead of him as he approached the metal detectors at the front of the building. He recognized one as the defendant's brother, the other was young but rather plump. The brother and the round man seemed to be quarreling with the security gaurd about something. He looked at his watch again. He didn't have time for this. He dug out his wallet and flashed his D.A. badge and skipped past the quarreling men and through the security station to the courtroom. He stopped and breathed a minute to regain his composure and put on his suit jacket before walking through the large oak doors.  
  
Abbie was, of course, already there seated at the D.A.'s table. "About time you could make it."  
  
He grimaced and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, I have a life outside of the courthouse unlike some people around here. You know, places to go. People to see. I can't just sit around and prepare briefs all day." He smiled as he sat down, proud of his sarcasm.  
  
"One lunch a week doesn't qualify as having a life you know." She said flatly but with a smile. He acted hurt and sat in his seat. It wasn't long before the door to chambers opened.  
  
"All rise" The judge came in, sweat already dotting his forehead.  
  
"Be seated, please. It is far too hot for all this formal moving about." Jack always knew he like Judge Becker. The jury began to file in. Jack glanced over at defense counsel and the defendant. He noted a strange look on the usually stone faced defendant but couldn't tell what it was, though it made him wonder. He shrugged it off to nerves. His attention was suddenly drawn to the back of the room where the portly man who had been with the defendant's brother frantically entered the room. He raised his eyebrow at the act then turned around as the court officer handed the verdict sheet back to the forewoman.   
  
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge began the traditional proceedings of announcing the result of months of hard work.  
  
"We have your honor."   
  
"And how do you find on the first count of the indictment, conspiracy in the first degree?"  
  
"We find the defendant, Carl Bradley, guilty."  
  
"How do you find to the second count of the indictment, kidnaping in the first degree?"  
  
"We find the defendant guilty."  
  
"How do you find in the third count of the indictment, murder in the first degree?"  
  
"We find the defendant guilty"  
  
Jack and Abbie were smiling congratulating each other on voir dire picks and other such matters while Judge Becker announced the later dates for the sentencing hearing and motioned for Bradley to be lead away by a court officer. Jack was too wrapped up in being elated but trying to be proper and not to show it that he didn't notice the fat man in the back rush back out in to the lobby as soon as the first 'guilty' was read off.  
  
Suddenly, as Bradley was being strapped in to cuffs, there were shouts and a loud clamor coming from the lobby. The plump man entered the courtroom again, only this time he was followed by Bradley's brother and they were both wielding what appeared to be automatic weapons. The brother shot a few off into the ceiling and the other man began to secure the door. Jack pushed back his chair and forced a frozen Abbie under the table with him.  
  
"Nobody move!" No one was listening to him, everyone was scrambling to get under the courtroom's pews. Carl didn't look shocked at all. Even in all of the commotion Jack couldn't help but note the defendant's calm look and feel satisfied that he was right in noticing something odd about his expression earlier.  
  
"I SAID NOBODY MOVE!" He shot a few more bullets. Jack could feel Abbie shaking. Looking down he noticed that his hands were shaking too. He hadn't even noticed his increased heart beat and that his shirt was again seeped with sweat.  
  
He tried to think, there had to be a way to deal with this, this wasn't right, he had to be able to do something. He looked out from under the table and watched as the brother took the keys from the terrified court officer and began to unlock Bradley's cuffs.   
  
That was it. The helplessness, the fear and now they were releasing his defendant. They were trying to unjustly erase the conviction which just passed. They thought that they could wave some guns around come into his courtroom and destroy his justice system, his constitution, all that he had fought for his entire adult life. He was mad, red hot pissed. crawled out from the table.  
  
"What  
  
the   
  
Hell   
  
Do you  
  
Think  
  
You Are  
  
Doing?!"  
  
Jack stood up straight, his back to the jury box, glaring daggers at the two brothers. The one with the gun finished uncuffing his brother, handed him a gun then turned around to face Jack.  
  
"Hello. What am I doing? I am saving my brother. And I believe my plan involves getting rid of you Mr.D.A...." Shit. Jack suddenly realized how stupid he had just been. Who did he think he was? Clint Eastwood? Jesus, now he was in trouble. He knew these guys wouldn't be able to get out of the courtroom with out running into the barrage of cops which was surely there by now. These guys would be caught as soon as they walked out the door and there was no need from some sorta freakin hero, but no, he let his anger get the better of him and now he was staring down the barrel of a gun. His hot handedness had put himself and possibly the rest of the courthouse in immediate, mortal danger. He could slap himself for being so stupid. Still, he had chosen his action and now he would have to live with it. If only he could figure a way out of it so he would be able to live with it. Jack breathed deep, needed to say something, think of movies, what do the tough guys always say in movies? No, this wasn't a movie...damn it how much he wished he were still under that table or better yet, still eating ice cream with Jennie. She had told him on another occasion that it wouldn't kill him to be late and now it looked like it might kill him to have been on time...  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute there buddy, you do not want to shoot me."  
  
"Oh? I don't? I dunno, I feel rather strongly that I do."  
  
"No, trust me you don't, there is no way for you to get out of this so all you can do now is make sure you don't make things worse for yourself and shooting me is definitely going to make things very difficult for you."  
  
"Difficult? Really? So what would you suggest that my brother does? You've already lead him down the path towards a lethal injection, what the hell could he possibly do to make things more difficult for him?"   
  
"Ok, I'm sorry but yeah Carl's already lost his case..."  
  
"So he can shoot you..."  
  
"Whoa...wait he still has the sentencing hearing and then all of those damned appeals...not nearly as many people convicted of capital offenses recieve capital punishment...Carl...you still have hope...you don't want to do this, it will only hurt you more." As he spoke Jack slowly backed up and slowly ducked under the table again.   
  
"You two think of the situation your in now, what it must look like outside this courtroom and all the possible scenarios that this could result in...and I'll just be sitting under here if you need me." His voice slowly trailed off towards the end of his statement and again he was hunched under the table with his trembling assistant. She looked at him with intensity.  
  
"What the hell was that?" She whispered angrily.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well it was really stupid."  
  
"I'm aware of the fact thank you very much."   
  
She shook her head in frustation and let out a sigh of relife. Jack poked his head out and looked towards the brothers standing in front of the judge's bench. They were deep in conversation, occasionally eyeing Jack warily. They glanced towards the door where the fat man was yelling at someone shouting through the door. The reality of their brilliant plan had begun to hit them en force and they looked at each other wordlessly trying to determine what to do.  
  
The heat was stifiling. He looked at his watch, they had only been stuck there for ten minutes but he could have definitely argued that it was more like ten hours. Jack took off his jacket and loosened his tie. He was so thirsty, there was a water pitcher and his and Abbie's glasses right above his head on the table...perhaps he could dart out for just long enough.  
  
"Abbie, Stay here."  
  
"Jack...Jack...Jack McCoy you stay here...God damn you." He ignored Abbie's pleas and stood up to reach for the water.   
  
"Looks like our friend has come back to play just in time." Carl sneered quietly when he noticed Jack stand up.  
  
"No, no playing I just need some water, it's a little hot around here if you haven't noticed."  
  
"Yeah, well you won't have to concern yourself with the heat for much longer."  
  
"Oh? Have you two geniuses come up with a plan yet?" He replied, perhaps too sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah we have." Retorted the brother curtly.  
  
Carl elaborated. "We realized that you were right, this wasn't such a hot plan and now we are all screwed. But since I'm screwed anyway why would I possibly give up the oppurtunity to screw you over as well. At least I'll be content and a hero amongst the inmates at rikers if I pop you." Carl now leveled the muzzel of his gun with Jack's chest. He was begining to feel nauseus and dizzy. He glanced from the gun to the men, to Abbie to the water still on the table. He felt as if he were slipping...  
  
"Nobody move! Put your hands in the air!" Suddenly a force of S.W.A.T. team members rushed into the room from the Judge's office behind the two brothers. Jack sunk to the ground as the brothers spun around. He closed his eyes and leaned against the jury barrier as he heard shots going off.  
  
"Jack! Jack! Oh, my god." Abbie was beside him shaking him. "Are you ok? Were you hit? I heard the shots and saw you come down. My god, are you ok?"  
  
He opened his eyes and grabbed her arms. "Shhh, I'm fine. Abbie, I'm fine. Abbie. Shut up. Stop. Nothings wrong." She was shaking again. He looked over her shoulder and saw the fat man being put into hand cuffs as a medic checked the pulses of the two brothers who were collapsed on the floor. S.W.A.T. team members swarmed the courtroom. A medic was now approaching them.  
  
"Are you two ok? Anyone hurt?" Jack took a deep breath. His world was beginning to settle again and he was feeling more like himself.  
  
"Nah, a little shookin up I guess but nothing to be concerned about."  
  
"Hmm." The medic looked at Abbie who seemed to be recomposing herself as well. "Well, I'd still like you two to get checked out. Why don't you go out there and let one of my guys take your blood pressure and such, just to be sure." Jack nodded his consent. The medic extended a hand to Jack who took it and rose to his feet. He turned and helped Abbie to her feet. He grabbed his briefcase and they walked out of the courtroom together.   
  
The lobby was filled with cops and reporters. Now fully composed they quickly meandered their way through the crowd and down the stairs. He hadn't realized how long they had been inside but the sunny day of earlier had clouded over and the sky was dark with a light misty rain had begining to fall. They stopped by the curb and Jack rested his back against the wall.  
  
"Well, that was a fun filled day. Every time I go back into that courtroom I think I'm going to have a small gut reaction now." He thought aloud with a smile.  
  
"Yeah..." Abbie replied humorlessly. "You know Jack, when they first came in shooting and all, I froze, and so I just wanted to say, you know, thanks, really, for pulling me down. I mean don't know what would have happened if you hadn't..." She dropped her gaze.  
  
"Oh come on Abbie, what was I going to do? Just leave you there?"  
  
" I just mean, I got frozen, I couldn't take care of myself, never mind worry about the safety of someone else."  
  
He looked at her with a very serious look on his face. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Well, you see, I am a man, after all, I can handle these situations where as a frail woman..."  
  
"Jack!" She slapped his arm. He laughed.   
  
"Are you going to go see a medic?" He walked to the bottom of the steps again and looked up at the commotion.  
  
"Nah, I feel fine. You?"  
  
"Don't think so." As they stood staring up at the courthouse a lone female figure began to jog down the steps towards them.  
  
"I thought you said verdict readings were the most boring part of the trial." Jennie's voice caught as she spoke.  
  
"Hey I w..." Jack was cut off as his daughter did something that had never happened before; she rushed at him and enveloped him in a tight hug. He stood there dumbstruck for a moment then wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"I was in class and someone came in and said there was a shooting at the courthouse and I got so scared and then I came here and the cops said that they had guns and then they went in and I heard shots and medics rushed in then someone sent out a call for body bags and I pushed myself forwards but I couldn't find you and, and...I only just found you, I was so worried..." She was crying into his shoulder now. He closed his eyes and stroked her hair. He wanted to say something, tell her that it was ok but his voice caught in his throat and he couldn't get the words out.   
  
After a few minutes Abbie finished pretending to be interested in what was going on in the crowd at the top of the steps and turned to the street.   
  
"I'm going to go back to the office and put my stuff away."  
  
Jack broke from his daughter's grasp. "Yeah, I guess I better go too and tell Adam what happened."  
  
"Oh, no," Jennie broke in, "Mr. Schiff is here, I saw him and he looked really worried. He was talking with that detective friend of yours."  
  
"Briscoe? Oh, well if he's talking with Lennie he knows the scoop by now so I don't have to see him, I think I'll take the rest of the day off."  
  
"The rest of the day? It's already 4:30...there's hardly anyday left."   
  
Jack smiled at his daughter. "And you want to be a lawyer, you must soon realize that day only ends when it needs to end, no sooner."  
  
"That's lame...hey where's Abbie?"  
  
Jack looked around just in time to see his assistant wave good bye from the window of a cab pulling away.   
  
"I believe she left us to our own devices."  
  
"Well, I left my books back at school, care to escort me?"  
  
"Not at all, lead the way." So they walked away from the courthouse and the drama of the afternoon leaving any other work for tommorow. 


End file.
